This invention relates to a device which is provided with a data carrier which is arranged for contactless communication with a communication station, includes a casing of an electrically insulating material and is formed by injection molding, includes holding means which are surrounded by the casing and are arranged to hold a chip and at least one passive component which is suitable for contactless communication, and is also provided with electrically conductive connection means which are surrounded by the casing, are connected to the holding means and by means of which a respective chip terminal of the chip is electrically conductively connected to a respective component terminal of the at least one component.
The invention also relates to a data carrier which is arranged for contactless communication with a communication station, includes a casing made of an electrically insulating material and is formed by injection molding, includes holding means which are surrounded by the casing and are arranged to hold a chip and at least one passive component which is suitable for contactless communication, and is also provided with electrically conductive connection means which are surrounded by the casing, are connected to the holding means and by means of which a respective chip terminal of the chip is electrically conductively connected to a respective component terminal of the at least one component.
A device of the kind set forth in the first paragraph and a data carrier of the kind set forth in the second paragraph are commercially available in a variety of versions and hence are known. The known device and the known data carrier are used, for example in an immobilizer system; the data carrier is then accommodated in the grip of a vehicle key which thus forms the known device.
The holding means of the known data carrier are formed by a thin, foil-like plate which consists of a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy material whereto gold-plated copper tracks are connected. Such a construction is known from the field of printed circuits. The gold-plated copper tracks then constitute the electrically conductive connection means via which the terminals to be interconnected are connected by way of soldering. Because of the small dimensions and the vulnerability of the chip and the at least one passive component, and because of the specific construction of the holding means and the connection means, the known data carrier requires a comparatively intricate soldering operation so as to make said soldered connections; because of the construction of the copper tracks, only a limited temperature distribution takes place during soldering, possibly giving rise to comparatively high thermomechanical loads which in turn could reduce the service life. Moreover, the described holding means and connection means are comparatively expensive which is, of course, a drawback. Furthermore, the manufacture of the casing of the known data carrier, being realized by enclosing the holding means, the connection means, the chip and the at least one component by injection moulding, involves the formation of narrow strips which laterally project from the holding means, so from the thin foil-like plate, in order to retain the holding means and the components held by the holding means in an injection molding device; such narrow strips project from the finished casing and have to be punched through or cut through at the periphery of the casing during a subsequent punching or cutting operation. Consequently, the narrow strips of the holding means of the finished known data carrier terminate at the periphery of the casing, so that at least the part of each narrow strip of the holding means which is situated near the periphery of the casing is accessible from outside the casing. Because of such accessibility of the narrow strips of the holding means from the outside, the narrow strips in this known data carrier which can be reached from the outside can also be influenced or attacked by other influences, for example water, salt water or other liquids or chemicals, which may also have adverse effects.